How To Start a Home-based Food Truck Business

by Thomas, Eric

• ISBN13: 9780762778782
• ISBN10: 0762778784
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-07-03
• Publisher: Globe Pequot

Summary

Everything you need to know to run a profitable and satisfying food truck business from your home

Author Biography

Eric Thomas’s passion for cooking and Bar B Que started in Chicago at the young age of 10. While in the military he gained an appreciation for Korean food and learned how to prepare Korean style Bar B Que. While stationed at the U.S. Army post, Fort Hood in Killen, TX, he immersed himself in the way true Texas style Bar B Que is done and how to appreciate a good steak. After leaving the military, he worked in corporate America for 8 years during which time he continued to cook for friends, family and started working on his next big venture, The Rolling Grill that specialized in onsite mobile Bar B Que, catering and Al Fresco dining services. The Rolling Grill prides itself in being called the “Onsite Grilling Professional”. Eric’s success with The Rolling Grill has also allowed him to start an award winning BBQ competition team, which travels the southeast competing in Bar B Que competitions throughout the year and also a video interview with Daryl Mast from BBQSuperstars.com.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
So You Want to Start a Food Truck Business	p. 1
Why I Chose Barbecue	p. 1
What Barbecue Means to Me	p. 2
Why Should You Choose a Mobile Food Business?	p. 2
Who Requests a Mobile Vendor's Services?	p. 2
Where Can Mobile Food Businesses Work?	p. 3
Five Biggest Consumer Markets	p. 4
Do You Have What It Takes?	p. 8
Getting Started	p. 10
The Mobile Food Movement	p. 10
Food Truck History	p. 11
The Food Truck of the Future	p. 12
Hurdles Facing Mobile Food Vendors	p. 13
Commissary Space	p. 14
The Health Department	p. 14
Mobile Food Trends	p. 19
Major Cities with a Food Truck Presence	p. 24
Market Research	p. 26
Competition Research	p. 26
Who Is Your Market?	p. 27
Product Research	p. 27
Location Research	p. 28
Creating a Preferred Vendor List	p. 30
So What Message Do You Want to Convey to Your Followers?	p. 32
Setting Up Your Business	p. 33
Creating a Business Plan	p. 33
What Business Entity Is Right for You?	p. 44
Are You the Owner and Operator?	p. 44
Start-Up Costs Associated with Food Trucks	p. 45
Setting Up Your Home-Based Office	p. 48
Employer Identification Number (EIN)	p. 49
Business Checking Account	p. 50
Merchant Account 5o
Bookkeeping and Management	p. 51
Time to Call the Accountant	p. 55
So How Do You Manage a Food Truck?	p. 56
Legal Aspects and Food Safety	p. 59
Licenses and Permits	p. 59
ServSafe Certified	p. 60
Health Department Inspection	p. 61
Wash Your Hands	p. 62
Cross-Contamination	p. 63
You Need Insurance	p. 64
Legal Timeline	p. 65
Outfitting Your Food Truck	p. 67
Mobile Kitchens … Truck, Trailer, or Cart?	p. 67
Food Truck Design and Layout	p. 69
What Does Your Commercial Mobile Kitchen Need?	p. 72
Purchasing a Second-Hand Truck, Trailer, or Cart	p. 73
Keeping an Inventory	p. 75
Menu Planning, Price Structures, and Catering	p. 77
Menu Planning (What Do You Want To Sell?)	p. 77
Structuring a Menu	p. 79
Menu Flexibility	p. 84
Menu Pricing	p. 86
Let's Not Forget About Catering	p. 87
Catering Menu Packages and Pricing	p. 88
Understanding Marketing, Promo, and Advertising	p. 92
Free Marketing First	p. 92
Creating a Logo	p. 94
Business Card	p. 98
Time to Build Your Website	p. 98
Search Engine Placement	p. 102
Blogging Your Way to Customers	p. 102
Pay-Per-Click Advertising	p. 103
Use Videos to Promote Your Business	p. 103
Mobile Food Groups and Organizations	p. 104
Don't Just Sell the Food, Sell Your Brand	p. 104
Dealing with Customers	p. 106
Satisfying Your Daily Customers	p. 106
Attracting New Customers	p. 107
So Your Customers Want You to Cater	p. 108
Proposal and Contract Development	p. 108
Operational Concerns	p. 116
The Planning Stages	p. 116
Site Survey	p. 118
Operating Your Food Truck	p. 119
Preparing Your Food Truck for Large Gatherings	p. 123
Are You Ready?	p. 128
Open for Business	p. 130
Ready, Set… Let's Prep	p. 131
Setting Up Your Food Truck, Trailer, or Cart for Business	p. 131
How Catering Is Different	p. 133
Ready, Set… Let's Cook	p. 133
Feeding and Serving Your Customers	p. 135
Collecting Your Payment	p. 136
End-of-Day Cleanup	p. 136
Evaluate Your First Day on the Job	p. 136
So What Does Tomorrow Bring?	p. 137
Growing Your Business	p. 138
Let the Selling Begin	p. 139
Teaming Up with Other Trucks	p. 142
The Investors Are Calling	p. 143
Does It Make Sense to Expand to Two Trucks?	p. 143
Participating in Competitions	p. 143
Concluding Thoughts	p. 144
Mobile Food Operator Resources	p. 146
Associations	p. 146
Food Truck and Trailer Builders and Equipment Suppliers	p. 149
Food Truck Support Sites	p. 152
Magazines and Online Publications	p. 153
Domain and Website Services	p. 154
City Health Departments and Mobile Food Vendor Government and City Resources	p. 154
Mobile Food Truck Cooking Resources	p. 169
Cooking Class Is in Session	p. 169
Food Truck Barbecue 101 (Methods, Woods, and Cooking Equipment)	p. 176
Sellable Recipes to Get You Started	p. 179
Metric Conversion Tables	p. 191
Food and Farmers' Markets Across the Country	p. 192
Special Event Planning Guide	p. 200
Glossary	p. 209
Index	p. 213
About the Author	p. 218
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